Fruit that SMELLS like GARBAGE? Sounds Yummy!

July 26, 2011
Siang!
I can't believe it is already P-day again, this past week has flown by! Yes, It is true, you might need to hide the dogs from me when I get home, only kidding of course! But seriously, if they get too annoying... I know a good recipe! :]
Today I have attached some photos from the past month. I found out I probably shouldnt send memory cards back to you because they will likely get torn out of the envelopes or be lost, so this will have to do. First I guess I will give a little background on the photos, one of them is of the ocean and a nearby volcano from the beach that is about a 5 minute walk from behind the church! Manado is so beautiful! There is one of me holding some durian, which is a very interesting fruit here. It has a different smell to it, it is kind of like a mix between garbage and something sweet. I tried it for the first time a few nights ago, and it is so good! Very different but very good!
There is one of Elder Marijanto and I with a family that the father was reacvtivated about 3 months ago and the wife was just baptized a month ago- Novan, Novita, and their son Stiv (Steve). They are awesome and are now preparing for the temple, which is a huge sacrifice for members here it means travelling out of the country and saving up a lot of money. They have the desire though and are willing to work hard for it, so The Lord will help them with it!
Hmm So a typical day here in Manado is usally like this:
wake up 630, have an upset stomach until about 645 ( I wont go into details) haha.
Then I usually jump rope, and do some weights for 20-30 minutes. Shower, eat breakfast which lately has been grilled cheese sandwiches, so good. Breakfast food here like cereal is expensive, and eggs arent exactly too good on the stomach soo yeah I stick to the gilled cheese sandwich.
After all that is study time, until 11 then we head out for the day or eat lunch then head out. After that it kind of depends on if we were able to get appointments set up, people are hard t o make set appointments with, it is always- "oh call back tomorrow morning" and then in the morning, " Already busy today." the bottomline is the people here do not like to set appointments up in advance, or if we do set one, at least one falls through every day.
But when they dont work out we go find people to teach either by just walking around the markets and talking to people or going into neighborhoods and trying to teach lessons.
At 830-9 we pick up dinner and head home!
One of the biggest things I have learned this week has been that when we work hard, time flies by, the work is fun, and we are all happy. The other thing I have learned is that GMIM (the biggest church here) is the worst!
We had an awesome family to teach, the first lesson was great, they seemed really prepared and interested, but on monday we had an appointment and Joseph's friend was there who is not a pendeta but is in leadership at the local GMIM church. He basically started off by saying "I respect you all so much but I already know about your Church, the Book of Mormon and it is false and I don't believe any of it, and neither does this family. They are members of GMIM." It was a real bummer, and the family didn't even say anything the whole time. So we just shared a message about Faith and how a testimony is obtained and then left. It was a real bummer, but hopefully they will meet with us again without that guy there.
So that was the big story for the last week. I think it was Dad that asked what percentage of Manado is Christian, and that is a very good question, because we have heard that Manado is actually primarily Muslim as well but the areas outside of it are majority Christian. Not really sure what it is, but in the North where I am serving it is very Muslim.
Which reminds me, Selamat Puasa! The fasting month started today for Muslims. haha.
Well, The Church is true, Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is the word of God.
I love you all!
Kevin